I Only State Facts
by CaptainSwan123
Summary: WAIGE FLUFF! Some QUINTIS FLUFF! One-shots. Scenes that relate to each episode. Originally a single one-shot, converted into a series of one-shots based off of each episode. Theoretically I'll be posting once a week for each pair.
1. I Only State Facts

**Title:** I Only State Facts

 **Warning:** Contains spoilers from Season 2.

 **Author's Note:** I just needed some Waige fluff. Let's be honest, they're perfection and if the show doesn't address their kiss in 2.01 soon then I'm probably going to die of anticipation.

But like can we talk about the ocean scene in 2.02? That was HILARIOUS and so totally Walter. It made me so happy

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Scorpion characters or the plot line.

 **Summary:** (Waige!) Paige comes into the office early the morning after her "experimental" kiss with Walter. Will they work things out or stay in denial?

 **Word Count:** 1,267

* * *

"I didn't mean it," Walter's voice floated towards her from the other side of the garage.

Paige stilled, her hand still resting on the back of her chair that she had been about to pull out and sit on in order to start working. She had come in a little early, Ralph having wanted to help his teacher prepare a science experiment before school started, and thus starting their day a half hour early. She figured she'd just get started on some paperwork before the others came into the garage, taking advantage of the silence that preceded their chaotic projects.

She was not, however, expecting Walter to be downstairs already. Or for him to be speaking to her.

She thought that after last night's experiment, he'd withdraw from her. She couldn't blame him if he did; their situation was already awkward as it is without the disadvantage of Walter's low EQ that made processing an emotional interaction, like their kiss, such a difficulty.

Paige turned slowly, half of her afraid of what was to come and the other half afraid of frightening him off if he was about to open up. She leaned backwards slightly, letting the desk support her weight since she didn't trust her shaky knees. She looked at him, giving him the opportunity and the space to say what he needed to say without being pushed.

"I didn't mean it," Walter repeatedly more quietly, taking a few quick steps towards her and then jerking to a stop a few feet away, just out of arm's distance. His eyes bore into hers for a few more seconds before he took in a deep breath and stared pointedly at the desk she was leaning on.

She couldn't tell if it was a defense mechanism or not. Toby would probably know, but seeing as she was not Toby, that didn't help her. His eyes flickered to hers briefly and then landed back on the desk, but in that slight second of contact she could see the internal struggle in his eyes.

Not a defense mechanism then, just a way for him to try to sort through his thoughts. That was her job, though. Helping him figure out what he was trying to say.

"What didn't you mean, Walter?" She asked softly after a few moments of silence between them. He glanced back up at her as she spoke and she tried her best not to let her nerves show.

His eyes flickered back and forth between the two of hers, trying to get a read on her. She smiled at him encouragingly, hoping he'd see the love in her eyes without her having to say it. If he could just _see_ what he meant to her, then maybe he wouldn't pull away so much.

After all, it was him pulling away that caused her to say those dumb words.

 _Honestly, I felt nothing._

She mentally kicked herself, for the umpteenth time over the lie. Of course she felt something! She felt _everything_ in that one small kiss. It meant the world to her.

But then he pulled away.

"I only state facts," he stated, his eyebrows narrowing in concentration. He scratched the side of his face, something she'd noticed he did in times of anxiety or uncertainty, before continuing, "Last night I, uh, I broke that."

Paige couldn't help the small gasp she let slip. He couldn't be saying what she hoped he was saying, could he? That he was lying when he agreed with her lie. That he _did_ feel something, just like she did.

She didn't know how long they stood in silence, her trying to process his words; him glaring at her desk with an intensity that only grew the longer she stayed quiet. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say, which was very unusual for her. Walter still hadn't told her what he lied about last night.

She slowly lifted herself from her perch on her desk and took two small steps towards him. His eyes shot up and met with hers, his usually stoic face softening when their gazes met. She stopped herself a foot away, knowing how uncomfortable the genius could be with proximity and touch.

"Walter," Paige urged quietly, begging him with her eyes to continue, to say the words she wanted to hear.

He let out a breath she hadn't realized he'd been holding. His hand ran violently through his curls and she could tell he was struggling to process his emotions. Which was a good thing, it meant he had emotions when it came to her.

"Paige, I-" he cut himself off, straightening his perfectly straight tie impatiently. "I only state facts. Last night, we talked about our theory. You- I mean, we kissed. You said you didn't feel anything. I said I didn't either."

Paige didn't want it to be this way, him literally only stating the facts of last night. Not only was it painful to hear him reaffirm the fact that he didn't care, it was unnerving for him to talk about such an emotional moment like it was literally only an experiment. Sure, she had called it that, but that was only to help him understand what she meant. She couldn't tell Walter O'Brien that she wanted to try kissing him because she wanted to see it they would connect. She had to use smart-talk to get it through that genius brain of his.

"Walter, I remember," she stops him, breaking eye contact to stare at her shoes. "I was there."

"That's not- this isn't how-" he stumbled through his words. She had yet to look back up at him, so she didn't know what his face looked like right now, but she could hear the frustration in his voice. Suddenly two large hands wrapped around her upper arms and dragged her into a firm, warm body.

She gasped, glancing up to see Walter's wild eyes inches away from hers. He had stepped forward and pulled her close to him. His head was ducked down slightly to put him at her eye level and she couldn't breathe from the close proximity, soaking in the way her body fit perfectly with his.

"I don't know how to say the words, Paige," his voice was quiet and the sadness in it stirred something inside of her; she felt the need to comfort him.

"It's okay, Walter," she said soothingly, letting one hand drift up to cup his face comfortingly. "It's just me."

"That's exactly it," he said roughly, but she could tell his anger was directed at himself. She starred into his eyes, trying to be as encouraging as possibly. She could see the doubt and the inner struggle, but most dominant was the disappointment. She didn't want him to be disappointed with himself; he had already come so far from the man who commandeered that diner.

"Walter, you've already improved so much," she whispered, unconsciously glancing down at his lips for a moment.

"I don't know how to say the words, Paige," he repeated, before capturing her lips in a heated kiss.

This kiss was even more passionate than the one they shared last night, if that was at all possible. Paige felt her world tilt and she had to wrap her arms around his neck to keep herself from falling. His strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer and anchoring her mouth to his. She didn't even care that his metal brace was digging into her side, all she could think, feel and breathe was _Walter._


	2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart

**Title:** Don't Go Breaking My Heart

 **Warning:** Contains spoilers from Season 2.

 **Author's Note:** So I decided instead of just writing a single one-shot, that I wanted to try to write a one-shot based off the circumstances of each episode. So I'll be starting up at 2.14 and I'll try to post once a week.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Scorpion characters or the plot line.

 **Summary:** (Waige!) Sylvester asks Paige to sing and she tries to convince Walter to sing with her.

 **Word Count:** 2,844

* * *

"Let me get this straight, _Walter_ _sang?_ Walter O'Brien _sang_? I've never even heard him whistle," Sylvester stated, his voice laced with disbelief.

"He wasn't half bad, either," Paige teased, winking at Walter with a smile reserved only for him.

"You've never been more correct, Ms. Dineen," Toby's nasally voice half-yelled from his perch on the couch. "He was whole bad. Just awful, really."

"Toby," Paige chastised, turning to look over her shoulder from her perch on the edge of Walter's desk.

"No, Paige, he's right," Walter stated. She looked at him to see if he was at all upset by the shrink's insult, but he was smiling up at her. It was that genuine smile of his; the one that cause butterflies in her stomach; the one she sometimes- foolishly- hoped was meant only for her. "I am not a very talented singer. You, on the other hand, are a natural. You sounded quite lovely today."

His words of praise brought a smile and a slight blush to her face and sent the butterflies rampant. She couldn't help but think of his undercover mission and wonder- not for the first time- if he had been talking to her when he said those words she still dreamt about, "I love hearing your voice in my ear."

She didn't realize that they were still sitting there just smiling at each other until Toby sneezed loudly from the other side of the room. The noise broke her out of her trance and seemed to do the same to Walter, as he scratched the side of his head before leaning back in his chair, noticeably putting space between them. She took the hint and stood up from his desk, failing to completely avoid the rest of the team's knowing looks as she walked over to her own desk.

It was more than obvious among the team that there was something going on between Walter and Paige. She wasn't sure if any of them knew about the kiss, however. Happy's obvious concern for Paige's reaction to Walter speed dating touched the liaison, but also worried her. It was amazing just how far the team had come, but the last thing she wanted was the team starring at her like a wounded puppy every time Walter showed interest in another woman.

"Did you ever perform before- um, before Ralph?" Walter asked hesitantly.

She had been so wrapped up in her own mind that she hadn't realized she had yet to respond to Walter's compliment. "Oh, wow," she breathed.

Walter sat upright in his chair, "Did I- was that rude? Is it insensitive to talk about your life before Ralph? I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't-"

"No, Walter," Paige cut him off. "No, you were fine, I wasn't upset. I guess I just never thought about performing. I'm really not that good," she trailed off, becoming suddenly very interested in straightening a stack of files on her desk.

"Not that good? Paige, you were excellent," Walter insisted. The intensity of his voice caused her to glance up at him where she got trapped in the depths of those eyes, the ones that betray Walter when he claims to have no emotion.

This time, their moment was interrupted by Sly's timid request to hear her sing.

"Yeah, Paige, it's not fair that only Walt got to hear you sing," Toby whined.

Paige turned to face the shrink who was still bundled up in blankets and sitting on the couch, looking extremely pale. "Toby, you heard the whole thing over the comms. And Happy was there dancing with the president. Walter wasn't the only one," Paige said, raising a questioning brow.

"Paige, Paige, Paige. Hearing it over comms is not the _saaaame_ ," Toby's condescending tone came out considerably less potent due to his inability to breathe through his nose. "I wanna hear it in real life. Plus, Hap was too busy getting fresh with the president to really pay attenti-OW! I'm _sick,_ Happy!" Toby complained, rubbing his head where Happy had thrown the couch pillow at him.

"It's a pillow, you big baby," she muttered, unaffected by his grumbling.

"Please, Paige," Sylvester pleaded softly, pulling on the edges on his sweater nervously. She couldn't stand to see him so worried about being rejected. And it really wasn't fair for him to be left out, they were a team, a _family_ , after all.

"Oh, alright. But only if Walter sings it with me," Paige compromised, smiling brightly over at the genius to see what his reaction would be.

His naturally stoic face went slack for a moment and she could read surprise clearly on his face. "I don't- but that doesn't- why would," he cleared his throat. Paige assumed he was taking the time to gather his thoughts. "Paige, that isn't logical. I am not a talented singer; we have already come to that conclusion. To have me sing again and expect a different result-"

"Is the exact definition of insanity," Paige finished for him with a roll of her eyes. "I know, Walter, but sometimes you need a little crazy in your life. What do you say?"

She stood from her seat, palms flat on the desk, and leaned forwards towards Walter, giving him her most seductive smile. Sure, part of her reasoning was because of Sylvester, but another large part was simply Walter. When they were singing that song together she couldn't help but feel moved by the lyrics. As cheesy as it sounded, she felt the connection between them and couldn't help but crave more.

Walter leaned back in his chair and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh, well, I-uh, I don't know about that," he stammered, avoiding eye contact.

"C'mon, Walt!" Toby chimed in, standing up for emphasis. "Poor Sly was stuck in cement while you got to waltz around the room singing show tunes with the lovely Ms. Dineen."

"There was no waltzing involved!" Walter interjected, looking panicked at the idea.

"Walter," Toby deadpanned. "Sing the stupid song."

Paige couldn't help the excited giggle she let out when Walter shoved his hands through his curls and groaned in defeat. He stood up and shooting an exasperated look around at all the members of the team, before his gaze landed on Paige and his face softened slightly. She grinned encouragingly at him and clapped her hands lightly.

Paige then proceeded to maneuver the team and Ralph onto the couch and surrounding chairs and then cleared a space for her and Walter to perform. She had to pull Walter by the hand to stand in front of the team because he had yet to move from where he stood nervously next to his desk.

"I, uh," Walter cleared his throat and loosed his tie slightly, tugging the material away from his neck. "What if I don't remember the words?"

"Walter," Paige said calmly, straightening his crooked tie and smoothing his collar, attempting to soothe him with her touch. "You're a genius, Walter. You'll remember the words. And it's just in front of our friends, it's not a big deal."

"Right, yeah," Walter agreed, nodding once and avoiding eye contact.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Toby yelled out. "It's not the same. You need microphones!"

"Toby, that's ridiculous," Walter scoffed. "You're sitting a mere 10 feet in front of us, there's no need for microphones."

"Microphones! We need microphones!" Toby insisted, ignoring Walter and disappearing into the kitchen with his blanket still wrapped around him. There was some clanging from within the kitchen, but then Toby emerged holding two large wooden spoons. "Aha! These babies will do perfectly," he said as he thrust the spoons towards Paige and Walter.

Paige took hers graciously, but Walter grumbled a bit before finally taking the spoon from Toby.

"Now, don't forget, you're in a third world country surrounded by armed soldiers. You have to be as light and friendly as possible. Really give it all you got-"

"Alright, Toby!" Walter cut him off, sighing exasperatedly. "We'll act like we did the first time, now please just sit down so I can get this over with."

"Don't act too excited, Walt," Toby quipped, settling back against the couch.

Walter turned to Paige and muttered under his breath, "This song is ridiculous; the heart is a muscle which physically cannot be broken."

"That's not what it's talking about, Walter, and you know it," Paige couldn't help the stern motherly tone that slipped out. "C'mon, just have a little fun with it. Focus on me; I'm up here with you, okay? You're not alone."

"M'kay," he nodded once, avoiding eye contact again.

"Okay, Ralph," Paige signaled to her son who hit play on the karaoke version of the song he had found on YouTube. The lyric-less tune started up and Paige gave Walter an encouraging smile.

* * *

Walter had done a lot of things in his life that could be considered brave. But he had never felt his courage waver until Paige asked him to sing with her. Singing during the mission was one thing; they needed to distract the president so Happy could acquire his smart watch which would allow them all to escape safely. That was logical.

Singing with Paige in front of the team for absolutely no reason at all was highly illogical. And irrational, at that. The song was clearly about love and the duet was clearly meant for two lovers. He and Paige were not lovers; things between them were strictly professional, they had both agreed to that. So singing a love song with the woman he could possibly grow to love if he allowed himself- which he would never allow himself- was in fact the most illogical and irrational thing he had ever done.

But how could he say no.

He couldn't deny the connection he felt when they had sang earlier that day. Sure he wasn't that great of a singer- horrible actually, as he never had time to sing before this and he didn't know what his own voice could do- but Paige was wonderful. Her voice was like an anchor to keep him secure, yet like a dove, carrying him high above the problems of his daily reality. And when she sang that love song and looked right into his eyes...for just a moment he could almost believe she meant it.

But of course she didn't.

They had both agreed to keep it personal. She only asked him to sing with her again to give Sly the full experience. Paige was selfless and caring and Walter was undeserving of her.

And then they were singing again and it didn't matter that he was unsure of his own voice because he was caught up in the beautiful sound of hers. It didn't matter that he hated performing in front of people because all he could focus on was her smile. It didn't matter that he had only heard the song once because every moment of their earlier performance was seared in his brain and he could never forget those words, not when he linked them to her.

He wasn't aware that they had finished the song until the team's cheers interrupted his thoughts. He realized that he was standing entirely too close to Paige- and yet some how much too far away- to be considered appropriate and that he was still gazing down into her bright eyes. Not wanting to disappoint her too much, he smiled slightly before taking a step back. Her smile didn't waver, but there was understanding in her eyes.

She always knew just what he was thinking, sometimes even when he didn't. She understood him in ways he never thought a Normal could; ways he thought no one ever could.

He turned to face the other members of the team, who were still clapping.

"Wow," Sylvester breathed out. "That was something else."

"I didn't know you had it in you, Walt," Happy quipped, a slight smile on her ever serious face. She raised one eyebrow for a mere second and Walter knew it was meant expressly for him. They seemed to have the strongest connection as they were the most "robotic" of the bunch. They understood each other's silence and blank stares for what they really were and that almost imperceptible exchange told him more than words could.

She was- not for the first time- questioning his decision to keep things platonic with Paige. If the connection between him and Paige was strong enough for even Happy to see through one simple song then he clearly wasn't doing a good enough job at maintaining a purely professional relationship with his liaison.

 _His_ liaison? When had he started thinking of her like that? She translated the world for the whole team, not just him. She wasn't _his_ anything.

That thought gave him a sort of hollow feeling in his chest, which he didn't understand. He pushed away the feeling and made a mental note to reexamine his reaction later; now wasn't the time.

"See, Walter? There was nothing to worry about," Paige gushed, a wide grin on her face and her cheeks slightly flushed. He made another mental note to try to figure out the blush on Paige's cheeks later on. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I uh-" Walter cleared his throat to give himself time to think and awkwardly rubbed at the back of his neck. "It was not as bad as I had originally assumed."

Paige laughed, confusing Walter.

"I didn't think he'd actually sing into the spoon," Toby piped in, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

Walter looked down at the wooden spoon in his hand, realizing that he had indeed held the utensil up to his mouth as if it were a microphone. He didn't know what made him get so into the performance.

"I think that was the longest I've ever seen him smile," Ralph's small voice added in. Walter looked over at the tiny genius, examining his face to see if he was joking. As usual, the boy's face stayed completely neutral.

Could it be possible that Ralph was telling the truth? Had Walter acted like a big buffoon in front of his team members?

"I think you might be right, Ralph," Paige agreed. Walter's gaze shot over to the young mother, worried that she was mocking him, but finding only a pleasant smile on her face. The smile that made his breath catch and all of his thoughts stop immediately- a very rare instance. "I thought it was sweet."

Walter's heart almost stopped.

"Alright, show's over," Cabe's voice saved Walter from having to respond. He catalogued yet another encounter with Paige for further review later on. He turned towards the garage's door where Cabe was walking in and carrying white paper bags with some red logo on them, "I've got food."

"Great, I'm starving," Happy said, perking up. She got up and followed Cabe into the kitchen, Toby and Sly right behind her.

Ralph looked hesitantly at Paige, as if silently asking her if they could stay for dinner.

"Go ahead, Ralph, I'll be right behind you," Paige said softly, offering a sweet smile to her son. The boy's lip twitched just barely, but Walter could see the love behind it.

"He really does love you, you know?" Walter said as a way to cut the awkward silence between them, now that it was just the two of them in the room.

"I know. And I love him," Paige responded casually, as if the words were natural and easy. They were for her, Walter supposed since she was loving by nature and especially dedicated to her son. Paige took a few steps closer to him, standing right in front of him and demanding all of his attention, which was not a hard thing to do since she already had most of his attention anytime she was in the same room as him. "You really were great, Walter. I know Toby likes to tease you, but what you did back there? The man I met at a diner a year and a half ago would never had even thought about _considering_ the idea. You've really improved so much and it really shows."

He didn't know how to take her compliments so he merely nodded once and averted his eyes to her painfully tall looking boots.

"Hey," she said softly, as he watched her boots take another step towards him. He didn't look up until he felt her hand rest gently on his bicep. Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear, "Thank you."

He watched wide-eyed as she walked away, her hips swaying softly in that gentle way of hers. His hand, on its own accord, came up to rest lightly on his cheek, missing the slight pressure of her lips there.

She was his everything.

And as he walked towards the happy sounds flowing out of the kitchen, he couldn't help but hear her mellifluous voice in his head singing, "Don't go breaking my heart."


	3. That Should Be Me

**Title:** That Should Be Me

 **Warning:** Contains spoilers from Season 2.

 **Author's Note:** Sort of an alternate ending to 2.15

Also, can we talk about how cute Happy and Paige's relationship is. They don't give us very much of their friendship, but when they do it parallels Toby and Walter's friendship and I think that's adorable. Paige and Toby are both the interactive, people-person of the relationship while Walter and Happy are the closed-off (but not completely to their significant others), logical person. So it makes sense that Happy can tell when Paige is denying her feelings about Walter just like Toby can tell when Walter is denying his feelings for Paige. Just a cute little parallel I picked up on.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Scorpion characters or the plot line.

 **Summary:** (Waige!) Paige has had it up to here with Linda insulting Walter

 **Word Count:** 2,244

* * *

Paige couldn't deny it any longer. When she had told Happy that she was merely concerned about Walter's success with his experiment, both women knew she was lying. Paige was jealous. And she was angry. So when Walter's ridiculous "follow-up text" came through and he dismissed her so callously with an uncharacteristic concern about upsetting Linda, she couldn't help but find a small amount of victory in the rift he was about to cause between himself and the woman with a bomb strapped to her chest.

"Okay. Just remember you told me to do this," she said, trying to put at least a small amount of regret in her voice.

"Uh-huh," Walter mumbled his attention still on Linda.

Paige struggled to keep a smug smile off her face as she held the phone up to the glass wall. "'Hope you're having a blast today'? 'Best, Walter'? Is that supposed to be funny?" The woman's voice was shrill with disbelief. Paige bit her lip in an attempt to keep her face neutral.

"Sadly, it's supposed to be romantic," Toby pitched in, clearly unaware of how to help Walter out of this awkward situation. Paige glanced at Toby and the two shared a knowing look. Paige knew that although Toby was helping Walter with his experiments in socializing, the shrink did not condone of Walter's choice to try dating. He had made it clear on more than one occasion that he thought Paige and Walter should be together.

"Ooh. I pre-programmed some follow-up texts after our date. Clearly an unfortunate, uh, choice of words, given the circumstances," Walter's volume increased as he talked; Paige had discovered that this usually meant he was getting upset or uncomfortable, sometimes even embarrassed.

She was starting to feel bad for not putting up more of a fight before showing Linda the text. However, she couldn't blame the woman when she practically shouted, "You think?"

Walter visibly paled, "Eh... Listen, I-I'm sorry. I just thought it would be an efficient way to follow up with you. And seeing as the date went so well-"

"It didn't go well, Walter," Linda interrupted him. Walter's face turned bright red, a huge contrast to the ghost-like color from mere seconds ago. "You-you say that you're this special intellect who works for the government, but I-I doubt that, because no one with half a brain could think that that dinner was a success. It was awful! And awkward and weird. Because... you're weird. You're a weird man who says weird things with a... a-a weird job, and all of that has culminated in me having a bomb strapped to my chest."

"That's enough!" Paige said, stepping in front of Walter and angling her body to shield him from anything else this cruel woman might throw at him. She was more than done with this Linda woman who had just waltzed right in and taken Walter from her and then proceeded to tear him down in front of his friends. "You're right, Walter is weird. He's crazy weird. You've only known him for a day, you can't even imagine the weird things I've seen over the past year and a half. But it's okay, because it's great. _He's_ great. He has done _amazing_ things. He's saved hundreds if not thousands of lives, he's taught me how to connect with my genius son who he's taken under his wing and he's created a family for a band of lonely, misfit geniuses whose amazing capabilities were being wasted before he made them into a team of heroes. So, yeah, Walter O'Brien might be a little weird, but you don't deserve him," Paige finally finished, her chest heaving from the emotion behind her rant.

Before anyone could respond, she pivoted on her heel and stalked out of the room, being extremely careful not to make eye contact with either men on her way out. She already knew what Toby would look like. There would be a giant grin on his face and an "I KNEW IT" arc to his eyebrows.

Walter on the other hand, well, she couldn't imagine what his face would look like much less what he would be thinking. She had practically spelled out most of the reasons why she loved him, while at the same time insulting his date.

Loved him? When had she realized she _loved_ him?

She couldn't think of any one particular moment where she had suddenly fallen in love with him; instead, it felt like every moment since she met him had been leading to that realization. Like every smile, every glance, every touch was one more inch she fell and inch by inch didn't feel like falling at all, until she glanced up and could see that she had, indeed, fallen and there was no getting out of it at that point. Not that she wanted to. Even if they remained "professional colleagues" and never attempted a relationship, she wouldn't ever want to fall out of love with him. There was something special about loving Walter O'Brien.

"Paige, wait," his voice called out.

She hadn't realized how much she had been craving to hear him call after her until he did and all of a sudden a hole in her chest that she had been attempting to ignore was filling back up. She hesitated for a moment, her hand still resting on the doorknob leading out of the garage.

"Please, just," she heard Walter sigh and could picture him shoving his hand through his curly hair. "Just give me a moment. Please don't leave."

"Okay," she heard herself whisper, her lips moving before she could even decide if she wanted to respond. She listened to his retreating footsteps vanish from the room before her hand fell limply to her side.

She took a deep breath, then went and sat on the couch, waiting for Walter. Was he angry at her for yelling at Linda? Was he upset that she was very clearly not pertaining to their agreement to not get romantically involved? He might even be embarrassed at the level of emotion she displayed for him, especially in front of other people and during a high-stress level case.

Maybe she should apologize. Fall back on the whole maternal thing and claim it would have upset her to see any of her friends mistreated like that, not just Walter. Which was true, it would upset her to see any of her loved ones being attacked like Walter was; however, she knew it would not affect her in the same way. And she knew that she added in that last part about Linda not deserving Walter simply because she wished Walter had taken her out instead. She had been petty and she needed to own up to it. First, she'd apologize to Walter when he came back and then she'd apologize to Linda.

"Paige?" She looked up to see Walter approaching her quickly, looking very concerned and carrying a piece of paper. "I know this isn't what you want me to say right now, but I need you to go to the store."

Paige was _beyond_ confused by his request, but the urgency in his voice had her reaching out for the small paper. She glanced at the list for a few seconds before looking back up to Walter. She wasn't expecting him to still be looking at her; in fact, with how serious and time-sensitive this whole situation was, she had expected him to already be half-way back to where Toby and Linda were. But instead he was standing right in front of her, his intense gaze flitting back and forth between her eyes, as if he was trying to read something written in them.

He shifted slightly and she looked down to see him handing her some cash.

Sighing softly, she held her empty hand out for the money. She had assumed he stayed there because he wanted to say something, but he had merely wanted to give her the cash for his shopping list.

Her disappointment was silenced when Walter's hand encompassed hers. She could feel the crinkled edges of the paper bill tickling the sensitive skin of her palm, but she couldn't care less. Walter had placed the bill in her open palm and then slid his hand into hers, his calloused finger tips running lightly around one side of her hand, thumb around the other, until they almost met on the back of her hand, so that for one brief moment he held her hand in his. He squeezed her hand softly and then pulled back, retreating as quickly as he came.

For a few seconds, she just stood there holding her breath, as if a single exhale could shatter the fragile moment they just shared. But eventually her lungs couldn't handle it any longer and she exhaled, pushing away her rampant emotions.

"I'm on it," she said to herself quietly as she grabbed her purse and walked out to her car.

By the time she got back from the store, Walter had built a glass cage surrounding Linda. Normally, Paige would have felt bad for the woman and intervened in some way, but she felt an irrational distaste for Linda, even though she still felt the need to apologize.

She vaguely heard Walter's instructions for a bomb-absorbing gel before she tuned out everyone else to focus on what he had told her to do. She was humiliated with how she had acted earlier, so she did what Walter said and then stepped back out of the way to watch him and Toby work.

Paige did everything she could to avoid making eye contact with anyone else, especially Linda, but when the woman's phone went off she couldn't help but glance over at her. When they made eye contact, Paige could see the understanding and the regret in her eye.

Her animosity towards the other woman died with the conversation with her mom. Those things she said about Walter and the way her words seemed to cheer him up left no room for negative feelings towards Linda. All Paige had wanted was to protect Walter from Linda's harsh words.

She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed by Walter's sudden mood change, though. She was glad that he wasn't hurt, but that meant that he cared about Linda's impression of him. Now that Linda saw the things that made Walter truly amazing, there was nothing that could keep them apart, bomb and make-shift glass cage excluded.

Finding herself irrelevant and unneeded, Paige silently backed her way out of the room and back to the red couch. All she really wanted to do was go home and cry in bed, but she couldn't just leave work. Plus, there was the matter of Ralph getting dropped off at the garage in about an hour. So she let her head drop onto the back of the couch and pinched the bridge of her nose, foolishly attempting to stop her heart from breaking like one would attempt to assuage a headache.

Footsteps caused her eyes to open and her arm to fall to her side, but she didn't move from her position. She simply tilted her head to watch Toby hurry over to his desk where his computer was dinging. The look he shot her had her hand going right back up to soothe her nonexistent headache. It was pity. Toby pitied her because she was in love with a robot who she helped turn into a man only for him to thank her for her efforts by dating other women.

She pitied herself, too.

She didn't know how long she sat there, struggling to keep her mind blank and her tears at bay, but eventually she was broken out of her zombie-like state by a loud boom and the shattering of glass.

"Walter," she gasped, sitting up-right on the couch.

She couldn't hear anything but the blood pumping in her ears.

"Walter!" She yelled bolting out of her seat and running through the garage, desperate to get to him. She turned the corner to see him lying flat on his back, purple goo and shattered glass covering the floor around him. He was drenched, but she couldn't tell if it was all goo or if there was any blood. "Walter," she hollered again, falling to her knees beside him.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Toby approaching Linda, who was in a similar state to Walter, just a few feet to his right. She only cared about the genius on the floor in front of her though.

"Walter? Walter! Walter, please," she chanted. Her hands came up to cradle his face.

Linda was coughing and attempting to sit up with Toby's help, but Walter remained motionless.

Paige took another glance over Walter's body, not understanding why he wasn't getting up like Linda. When she saw the shard of glass sticking out of his abdomen, her vision went blurry, her hands dropped to her lap and the world started to tilt.

"No, no, no, no, no, Walter!" She began to yell. Her head fell onto his damp chest, but she couldn't be bothered by the goo that smeared across her forehead and hair. She grasped his hand in both of hers and held it to her chest, feeling the goo on his hand plaster her shirt to her skin and whispering over and over, "No, Walter, please. Please, no."


	4. That Should Be Me (Part Two)

**Title:** That Should Be Me (Part 2)

 **Warning:** Contains spoilers from Season 2.

 **Author's Note:** Sort of an alternate ending to 2.15

Continuation of the last chapter. This one's from Walter's POV

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Scorpion characters or the plot line.

 **Summary:** (Waige!) After the explosion, Walter and Paige reunite

 **Word Count:** 2,380

* * *

 **(Again, this is a CONTINUATION of last chapter)**

Walter climbed into the tank with Linda. Time was running short and he had often lived up to the saying, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Of course, that was the Normals' way of saying that the probability of successfully accomplishing your task in the manner in which you have planned, increases exponentially when you do the work yourself, because only you can truly understand what you're thinking as thoughts are intangible and therefore nontransferable without certain receiver error, especially when the receiver has an IQ that is substantially lower than your own.

After Walter got the metal sheet in place, he couldn't help but wish that it was Paige he was pressed against instead of Linda.

Then, of course, he couldn't help but mentally chastise himself for such a ridiculous thought. That would put Paige in grave danger, something he never handles well. Every time Paige is in trouble, Walter loses the capability to think rationally. He usually abandons his personal motto of the greater good and does everything in his power to get her to safety.

The thought of Paige's safety caused him to break out of his thoughts.

"Toby, where's Paige?" He asked as he watched his friend back up from the tank. He didn't blame him, even with the gel they created, the glass from the tank was sure to shatter and fly with the blast of the bomb.

"She's in the other room, bud. Why? Do you want me to get her for you?" Toby asked, pulling the sliding door almost completely shut.

"No, no she can't be in here when it…when, you know," Walter trailed off, his eyebrow creasing. When had Paige left the room? And why hadn't he noticed? He remembered her mixing the gel together, but then what happened? He was always keenly aware of her presence whenever she was in the room, yet somehow she had managed to slip out without him noticing. Maybe she was upset with him for grabbing her hand. That was fairly intrusive on her personal space and they had both agreed to be professional colleagues only. "Is she…is she alright out there?"

Toby sighed, closing the door a tiny bit more. "She'll be fine, Walt. Really, you think you'd be more concerned about yourself and the woman strapped to a bomb in front of you," Toby mumbled, pulling the door the rest of the way closed.

"You love her don't you?" Linda's question was the last thing Walter heard before a loud boom. He was thrown backwards and splattered with the cold gel. His shoulders hit the ground at a weird angle and he was almost positive he heard one pop out of place. Then a searing pain ribbed through his abdomen and breathing became difficult.

There was a faint ringing in his ears and a darkness that surrounded him, yet through it all he could hear her. Her beautiful voice now cracked and hysteric rose and fell, calling his name. He tried to cling to it, tried desperately to crawl out of the dark and to comfort her, but his head felt heavy and his stomach burned. He couldn't hold on any longer.

* * *

He heard the faint beeps and smelled the antiseptic and knew.

The only logical conclusion for him being in a hospital after that burning feeling in his stomach was that a piece of glass shrapnel had pierced his abdomen. The soreness in his shoulder all but confirmed his assumption of popping it out of place. Other than a general stiffness, he couldn't find any other source of pain and what pain he did feel- from his stomach and shoulder- was very dull. Either he was under the influence of _a lot_ of morphine, or he had been unconscious for quite a period of time which had allowed his body to heal without him having to feel too much of the pain.

In the milliseconds it took for him to reach this conclusion, he registered the sounds of someone snoring faintly and a pressure on his upper thigh. He opened his eyes to find Paige sitting on a chair and slumped over onto his hospital bed, her head resting on his leg. Her face was tilted towards him, but her hair had fallen in front of it, obscuring his view.

Carefully, so as not to pull out the IV in his arm or pull any possible stitches, he reached forward and tucked the hair back behind her ear. Her naturally beautiful face looked haggard. There were circles under her eyes from lack of sleep and her eyelids were puffy, which he could only assume was from crying. Her makeup was smudged in some places and completely gone in others. Yet, he had never seen anyone as beautiful as her. She looked so peaceful in sleep, aside from the traces of trauma. Her face was relaxed in a way he'd never seen before and her lips were parted ever so slightly.

He didn't realize he was touching her bottom lip and until it moved against his thumb. He stilled, not wanting to move and cause her to wake up. Her lips were moving but he couldn't make out what she was saying. Walter waited until she stopped muttering before allowing his thumb one last, final brush across her soft full lip. But he wasn't as light this time, apparently, because she began to stir.

Walter quickly pulled his hand back, not wanting to be caught in such an intimate and awkward position.

Paige began to mutter again, this time louder. She was mumbling his name and a variation of no's and please's over and over, growing increasingly louder. At first, he waited for her to quiet back down again, but he soon realized she wasn't going to. She was probably having some sort of nightmare.

"Paige," he croaked out, his voice rusty from misuse. He cleared his throat and tried again, hoping to wake her from her dream. Calling her name wasn't working, however, so he tried to think of what she would do if the situation was reversed.

Gently, Walter placed his hand over hers which was lying on the bed next to his leg. He squeezed it gently, which made her quiet down a little more. Assuming she would quiet back down now, Walter let go of her hand, not wanting to have to explain it to her when she eventually woke up, because that would just embarrass her.

As soon as he let go, Paige became more frantic. She started crying and her words slurred with her tears.

This time, Walter grabbed her hand with one of his own while the other began smoothing the hair out of her face that had fallen with the movement of her antics.

"Paige, it's okay. I'm right here, I'm alright," he started to murmur, maintaining his ministrations. He continued to soothe her even when she stopped calling out for him and turned her head to face away from him.

Without being able to see her face, he wasn't sure if she was fully awake, yet, or still in some half-asleep state. It didn't matter, because her sobbing was getting quieter and softer. He, Walter O'Brien, was comforting Paige. Part of him couldn't believe it was possible, but a bigger part of him told his brain to shut up and focus on the moment. So he did. He memorized the feel of her small, soft hand in his own and delighted in the way her silky, smooth hair felt as he ran his hand through it.

He didn't know how long he sat there comforting Paige, but eventually a nurse came in and broke him out of his moment.

The nurse was surprised that he was up and hadn't yet called for any assistance. He remained quiet, cursing the woman in his head for interrupting his time appreciating Paige. She took his silence in stride, fiddled with his monitors, scribbled a few things on a pad and then, without another word, poured him a glass of water and left.

Walter was thirsty. He was parched. He felt as if the sun itself had set up residence in the back of his throat, shining its ghastly UV rays onto his throat and destroying any moisture left in his mouth.

But he couldn't bring himself to reach for the water cup. That would mean removing either his hand from Paige's own or from Paige's hair. He didn't want to cause any more of her nightmares and he certainly didn't want to miss any opportunity he had to hold her and be close to her, even in this small way.

Luckily, about 10 minutes after the nurse left- Walter knew because he had been counting the times he stroked Paige's hair at one stroke per 3 second intervals- Paige began to stir again. This time, Walter removed his hand from her hair to allow her to sit up if she was fully awake, but left his hand covering hers, in hopes that she wouldn't start crying again.

"Walter," she breathed out, turning her head to face him once more, her eyes still closed. Unable to stop himself, he smoothed back the one piece of hair that fell into her face. She nuzzled her head up into his hand and sighed out his name.

He felt his neck and ear grow hot. It was one thing for her to cry out his name in a nightmare after he had just been in an explosion. That was a normal thing that she would probably do for all her friends; Normals had nightmares about losing their friends sometimes. But for her to say his name in such a happy, intimate way. He felt an inexplicable glee and yet the most potent kind of anxiety.

His hand remained very still against her cheek. He didn't know what to do.

All of a sudden, Paige bolted upright in her seat, causing the chair she was sitting in to slide back a few inches. Her frantic eyes met his and she leapt out of her seat and onto him. She burrowed her head into his neck and wrapped her small arms around his neck. Then, before he knew what was happening, she had effectively shuffled him to the side and wormed her way onto his bed.

This caused another deep flush to blossom in his cheeks.

She laid her head on his shoulder, pressing her forehead into his ear and her face into his neck. She had one hand wrapped tightly around his own and her other clutching at the thin material of his hospital gown; he noticed that she had grabbed a handful over his heart and wondered if it was on purpose. She also had one of her legs draped over his, but he was grateful that it was only their ankles that were crossed.

Paige got herself all settled in while Walter just lay there, wondering if he wished they were sitting more upright so this awkward position they were in would not even be a possibility or farther down so that it would be more intimate instead of at the awkward half-sitting, half-laying angle that all hospital beds seemed to reside in.

A few seconds after Paige stopped fidgeting, Walter lifted the hand that she wasn't holding and let it cover hers that was on his chest. He felt Paige smile into his neck, so he laced his fingers through hers on his chest, loosening her grip until she was clutching his hand and not his hospital gown.

Paige sighed into the crook of his neck and nuzzled her head further into him. He couldn't help the wide grin that covered his face as his body relaxed against hers.

How simple-minded was he to have assumed earlier that a simple squeeze of the hand would be the way to comfort Paige? Of course she needed more than that! Hadn't she shown him just what she needed through all the times she comforted him? Every touch, every hand squeeze, every lingering contact had all been her way of comforting him, through touch. It was only logical to see that the way she comforted people was the way she needed to be comforted.

The man he was when he met Paige would never have been able to deal with this level of contact. Hell, the man he was a few months ago wouldn't have been able to process this situation. But falling in love with Paige had changed him. He was different; he changed every day, slowly growing into a better man.

This whole time he had been assuming it would take years for him to get to the same level Paige was at. He thought that if he practiced dating other women for a few months, he could get the confidence and the experience he needed to become the man Paige deserved. And once they started dating, he assumed it would take a year or two for him to get on the emotionally and physically affectionate level that Paige desired.

Who could have guessed that every minute since he had met Paige had been leading up to this moment now, when he could hold her in his arms and feel completely at ease. When laying beside her, tangled up in her arms was what he needed to feel _complete_. Every shoulder touch, every collar smooth, every hand squeeze, every time she touched him had just been building this need for her inside him. It had started small, one brick on top of another brick, which hadn't felt like anything at all, until suddenly he looked up and suddenly he had this looming desire to be with her and to be hers and to hold her in his arms forever.

"Paige," he whispered, worried that she had fallen back to sleep.

"Yes, Walter," she whispered back, her warm breath tickling his neck.

"I love you, Paige," he declared, feeling absolutely no anxiety at all. This was right and this was true, this was his forever.

He felt wetness on his neck, before Paige rose up onto her elbow, looked him straight in the eye with hers full of tears and said, "I love you, too, Walter."


	5. I'm Falling For the Guy (QUINTIS)

**Title:** I'm Falling For the Guy

 **Warning:** Contains spoilers from Season 2.

 **Author's Note:** Based off of 2.15

Essentially, it's the Quintis version of the Waige one-shot based off this episode. I just couldn't wait a whole week to write more fanfiction, so I decided to try out a Quintis one-shot. Be brutally honest with me and let me know if I should stick to just Waige or if you'd like a Waige AND a Quintis one-shot for every episode

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Scorpion characters or the plot line.

 **Summary:** (Quintis!) Sly, Cabe and Happy get back right as the bomb explodes.

 **Word Count:** 1456

* * *

With Happy's manic driving, the trio made it back to the garage in record time. They weren't sure how much longer Linda had before the bomb went off. Happy usually tried not to think negative things about dead people, but man, Merrick sucked at crafting a bomb. It had been almost 15 minutes since the remote had been activated by the rocket fire and the beeping had kicked into over drive, but the thing had yet to go off.

The three of them hurried out of the car and towards the garage, wanting to be able to do anything they could to help.

Happy's hand was on the door knob when they heard an explosion inside the garage. It sounded bigger than she had expected from Walter's description. Walter, Paige... _Toby._ They were in there with Linda. Linda who had a _bomb_ strapped to her. The bomb that just exploded.

Happy felt like she'd just been punched in the stomach. She couldn't imagine a life of not being annoyed by the shrink every day, no matter how much she claimed she hated it.

"Toby!" She yelled, yanking the door open and rushing inside.

Even she could hear the panic in her voice, but she tried to shove aside the feeling. Instead, anger consumed her. If Toby had gotten hurt it would be Linda's fault. She was dumb enough to get kidnapped and selfish enough to bring the bomb into the garage and endanger Happy's friends. She knew the real blame lay with Merrick, but he was dead, so there was nothing she could do to him if Toby was...

She couldn't think about that. She kept running deeper into the garage.

The logical side of her brain was warning her against certain dangers of running towards an explosion, but she couldn't be bothered by those thoughts she usually relied on. She knew the structure of the garage better than anyone and there were a number of possibly exposed wires that mixed with an explosion could entail certain destruction. For once, she wished her brain would just shut up.

She turned the corner sharply to see two figures lying flat on their backs, covered in and surrounded by the gel that her illegal D-12 refrigerant had been used to create. Her heart stopped for a moment, worrying that it was Toby lying amidst the shattered glass, but then she got a better look and realized it was Walter and the Linda woman.

For a brief moment, she wondered why Walter was in the tank with Linda- seeing as that was the only logical way he'd be so covered in the gel- and she was momentarily worried for Paige. It confused her, the way she was concerned for Paige's feelings during Walt's dates. Happy would (somewhat begrudgingly) admit the liaison was her friend, but she wasn't use to looking out for someone else, let alone their emotional state.

Paige's small smile in Walt's direction broke Happy out of her momentary lapse in concentration. Her eyes finally landed on Toby and she couldn't help the huff of relief that escaped her. He must have heard her, because he turned in her direction. As usual, a goofy grin lit up his face when he saw her. Much to her embarrassment, that goofy grin of his- the one she knew was meant just for her- caused her to smile right back at him. It was like she couldn't stop herself.

His smile fell and his eyebrows shot up.

Part of her was disappointed with herself. What did it say about her that the guy she liked was shocked into disbelief when she smiled at him?

She forced her face back into it's neutral mask, embarrassed by the show of emotion, no matter how small.

One eyebrow still raised, Toby made his way over to her. She heard Cabe and Sly making their way towards them and was worried Toby was going to say something about her smile in front of them.

But as usual, Toby surprised her by keeping his mouth shut on the subject. "Hey, Hap," he said softly, his eyes searching hers for a moment. Then he turned to Sly and Cabe, "Hey, you guys just missed Boom A La Walter."

Happy felt the corner of her mouth twitch at his antics.

Cabe huffed, clearly not amused with Toby's dry humor. The older man walked past them and approached the three near the explosion site, asking them what happened.

"So, Walt couldn't stop it, huh?" Happy muttered, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket and avoiding eye contact, choosing instead to watch as Cabe and Paige attempted to help Walter and Linda out of the mess.

"No, too risky. Merrick built in too many fail-safes and contingency plans," Toby responded. She saw him shuffle closer towards her out of the corner of her eye, but she kept looking forward. "You manage to un-sabotage the rocket?"

Happy nodded sharply once in response. Then she remembered the panic she had felt when she thought she'd lost him and decided to give him a little more than just one curt nod. He deserved more than that. And somewhere deep inside of her, she wanted to give him more than that, to be able to open up to him. But she wasn't about to admit that any time soon, not even to herself. "Nearly died doing it. Merrick's dead. It's a long story, but it was either him or Cabe," she added with a shrug, finally looking up at him and angling her body to face him.

His eyes scanned down her body for a short second before they were starring intensely down into hers. She could only assume that he was analyzing her body language and trying to get a read on her.

"You almost died?" Was his only response, and she could hear a small amount of anger in his voice.

 _Well, that's ridiculous,_ she thought to herself. Why should he be mad at her because someone tried to attack her? But then she remembered her own anger when she had been worried about him. Suddenly, his question seemed somehow all too intimate, if she assumed he was experiencing the same emotions she had. She glanced down, worried that he'd be able to read the emotions in her eyes and terrified to face the reality starring her in the face.

"But I didn't," she said in a small voice.

As soon as she said it, she began chastising herself. Toby would see right through her words. Normally, she'd bite back at him; tease him about being worried about her or tell him to back off and that she could handle herself. Yet, lately she hadn't been able to be the same Happy around him. Not the Happy she used to be, the one with all the walls designed _specifically_ for Tobias Curtis.

Since she was already looking down, she saw him take another long step towards her; the toes of his shoes almost touching hers.

"Happy," Toby said quietly. There were a few moments of silence between them and then she finally glanced up, curious to see why he wasn't talking. That must have been his goal, because the second she looked up, his hands came up to cup her face and hold it close to his. "I'm glad you didn't," he whispered and then left a lingering kiss on her forehead.

She closed her eyes for just a second, allowing herself to give in to the feeling of him and the security and joy he brought with him. All too soon, the pressure from his lips and hands were gone. Her face felt cold without them, but she knew that was illogical and ridiculous because the garage was kept at a modest 70 degrees Fahrenheit and his hands could not have been much warmer since he'd been in the garage all day.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she stalked over to her area. She roughly pushed the clutter off her desk, wishing it was her emotions that she could so easily shove to the side. Then she equipped herself with her necessary tools so she could resume work on her project, trying to lose herself in the logistics and metal. Just as she was about to start in on her work, she allowed herself a quick glance across the garage and saw Toby sitting in his chair with his feet up on his desk, his arms crossed behind his head and his eyes watching her with a large smile on his face.

She turned her face back towards her project, but his low chuckle from across the room let her know he saw her answering smile.


End file.
